A resident of Kirov has been sentenced to six years in prison for comments about the war in Ukraine.

In September 2025, 38-year-old Kirov resident Alexei Marfin was sentenced to five and a half years in a general regime penal colony and fined 500,000 roubles (approx. US$5,500). In December, on appeal, his sentence was increased to six years. The decision of the appellate court, which was made public, was highlighted by Sota.

The appellate court considered “committing a crime during the period of mobilisation” as an aggravating circumstance for the Kirov resident.

Marfin was found guilty of insulting the memory of defenders of the Fatherland (part 4, article 354.1 of the Criminal Code), and of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army motivated by hatred (subparagraph “d,” part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).

The first charge related to comments he left under a VKontakte post about the deaths of two Russian soldiers in Ukraine, posted on 22 June 2022. He wrote: “It serves them right, may their burial ground be fibreglass, they went to fight in another country, wanted to do some looting. They failed to kill Ukrainian civilians, it just didn’t work out. Died in a ditch, let it be a lesson to others.” In another comment, he claimed the dead soldiers’ uniforms resembled Nazi ones. Marfin wrote in a different comment: “These lads went to kill Ukrainian civilians, so may their burial ground be fibreglass. They are just as guilty as those who sent them there.”

The “fake news” charge came from comments left in several public social media groups: RBC, “Argumenty i Fakty,” “CHP/Shock Incidents/News,” and “Andrei Pivovarov.” He made these comments between July 2023 and May 2024.

In the RBC group, he wrote: “The bombed maternity hospital in Mariupol is a fact.” Under an “Argumenty i Fakty” post, he also discussed the shelling of the Mariupol maternity hospital and mentioned the killings of civilians in Bucha: “Before the war, which Putin started in Ukraine, everything was fine in Bucha, no one was being killed.” In the group of opposition politician Andrei Pivovarov, under a post about political prisoners, Marfin wrote that “the Russian army is wiping Ukrainian cities off the map,” reminding readers about destruction in Bakhmut, Soledar, Popasna, and Mariupol. His final comments were made in the “CHP/Shock Incidents/News” group, where he wrote about strikes on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and the deaths of civilians.

At first, Marfin told law enforcement that he posted these comments because he was against the war in Ukraine. He later changed his position, stating that he had made the posts “under the influence of foreign propaganda.”

Marfin also provided the court with a letter of gratitude for supporting those participating in the war in Ukraine, and sent donations both to them and to the “Za Vyatku” foundation, which raises money for soldiers. The court considered his “acts directed at signing a military contract” a mitigating factor. The decision notes that on 30 April 2025—two days after being summoned for questioning in the criminal case—Marfin signed a social military contract with the Government of Kirov Oblast. The military recruitment office ordered him to report for training on 7 May 2025. However, from the court decision, it appears that when the verdict was announced in September, the Kirov resident was present in the courtroom.

During the investigation, Marfin was under a travel ban. He was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was announced.

In January 2025, the Kirov resident was sentenced to a 500,000 rouble (approx. US$5,500) fine on charges of justifying terrorism (part 2, article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). What led to this prosecution remains unknown.